Psalm 40:9-17
English Standard Version (ESV)
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[a]
in (A)the great congregation;
behold, I have not (B)restrained my lips,
(C)as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
in (A)the great congregation;
behold, I have not (B)restrained my lips,
(C)as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord,
you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your (D)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have (E)encompassed me
beyond number;
my (F)iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot (G)see;
they are (H)more than the hairs of my head;
my heart (I)fails me.
your mercy from me;
your (D)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have (E)encompassed me
beyond number;
my (F)iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot (G)see;
they are (H)more than the hairs of my head;
my heart (I)fails me.
13 (J)Be pleased, O Lord,
to (K)deliver me!
O Lord, (L)make haste to help me!
14 (M)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be (N)turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who (O)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
O Lord, (L)make haste to help me!
14 (M)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be (N)turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who (O)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
(P)say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am (Q)poor and needy,
but (R)the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
(P)say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am (Q)poor and needy,
but (R)the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
How many of us are declaring the
name of the Lord? How many of us are
telling of His wondrous deeds? How many
of us are telling others of His steadfast love?
I am sure that many of us have not had the opportunity of a king to tell
our story of God’s steadfast love to “great congregations”. That is something that I have always thought
that I would like to do! Even though we
don’t have the opportunity to do so we should share with those around us. We should share of God’s love to those God
has placed before us yet so many times we shy away from the opportunity.
The next set of questions has to
do with our iniquities. Do I dare ask, how
many of us have sinned? The scripture
tells us, “All have sinned” (Romans 3:8), so that is a pretty easy question to
answer! But, how many of us are deep in
sin? I am not asking, “How many of us have worse sins than others?” there is
no sin greater than another. Rather, how many of us are dug so deep into sin we
almost don’t recognize it anymore? David
was deep in sin to the point that his iniquities had overtaken him, yet the
Lord was with him. Then David asked the
Lord to deliver him and the Lord did so and, the good news is, He will deliver
us as well.
I have to wonder if David’s
greatness got the best of him and he begin to think that it was okay for him to
do as he pleased. Then he remembered
that he wasn’t here to please himself but to honor God. Have you ever been there? Maybe we haven’t been famous but sometimes I
know that I think the world owes me something but in reality I owe the world to
my Father. Meaning I should not live for
this world but should freely give everything that the world has to offer back
to the Father who owns it anyway.
What I should be doing can be
found in the last verses. I should seek
Him and then rejoice and be glad in Him, not the world, in Him and Him
alone. So, why is that so hard to do
sometimes? Why do I have to wait? Maybe we wait because He wants us to
continually seek Him rather than to seek the things of this world. Maybe He is perfecting in us a will and a
desire to proclaim His word wherever we are and a continual need to seek Him
with all our hearts.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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